More Video

Last week, Lauren Hill of Mount St. Joseph University courageously took the floor for her first college game, refusing to let an inoperable brain tumor keep her from achieving her dream – and WNBA stars Elena Delle Donne and Tamika Catchings were on hand to lend their support.

Mercury-Sky Preview

By NOEY KUPCHANPosted Sep 11 2013 6:01PM

Having already secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Elena Delle Donne and the Chicago Sky are gearing up for the franchise's first playoff appearance.

The Phoenix Mercury are headed back to the postseason thanks in part to Britney Griner.

After getting the best of Griner in the first matchup between these star rookies, Delle Donne tries to lead Chicago to its first season sweep of visiting Phoenix, which will be without leading scorer Diana Taurasi on Wednesday night.

The Sky (22-9) endured seven losing seasons before selecting Delle Donne second overall in this year's draft, one spot behind Griner. The former University of Delaware standout has averaged 18.3 points to rank among the WNBA leaders, transforming Chicago into one of the league's elite teams.

Delle Donne shot 6 of 18 but scored a game-high 22 points after making a couple key shots down the stretch in Sunday's 93-79 win at Washington, Chicago's seventh victory in eight games.

"I never feel like (Delle Donne) misses a lot of shots, and I always feel like every shot is going in," coach Pokey Chatman said of Delle Donne, who is shooting 42.0 percent from the field. "I'm glad she felt like she didn't make any. Maybe she'll come out more aggressive on Wednesday against Phoenix."

Delle Donne shined brightly in her much-anticipated WNBA debut against Griner, posting 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in a season-opening 102-80 road win May 27. Griner, meanwhile, became the first WNBA player to dunk twice in one game, finishing with 17 points, eight boards and four blocks.

While the Mercury (18-13) missed out on last year's playoffs, they are back in the postseason after going 8-2 under interim coach Russ Pennell. Griner is fourth on the team with 13.0 points per game and is averaging a league-leading 3.0 blocks.

She blocked four shots Tuesday while Candice Dupree and DeWanna Bonner each had 18 points in an 80-76 win over New York.

Phoenix now seeks a season-high fifth consecutive victory.

"We starting to get healthy and play better, but it's not like there's a switch we can just turn on and off," said Taurasi, who added 17 points, nine assists and six boards.

Taurasi, averaging 20.8 points to rank second in the WNBA, will serve a one-game suspension after receiving her ninth technical foul for flailing.

"At least I'll get the day off," she said with a smile.

With Taurasi out, the Mercury could look to Penny Taylor to pick up the slack. Taylor scored 12 points off the bench, including 10 straight in the third quarter, in her second game back since missing 13 with a right knee injury.

"I'm just trying to work some of the rust off," she said. "I'm getting better day by day and will keep working at it."

Despite their loss earlier this year, the Mercury are 12-3 all-time against the Sky.

Phoenix will need to keep a close eye on Epiphanny Prince, who has scored 40 points while going 8 of 9 from 3-point range in the last two games.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Sky edge Mercury on Delle Donne's buzzer beater

Posted Sep 11 2013 11:13PM

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Elena Delle Donne wasn't supposed to take the last shot.

However, with teammate Epiphanny Prince blocked and the final seconds slipping away, Delle Donne kept an inbound feed and drove the lane for a game-winning jumper as time expired to lift the Chicago Sky to a 70-68 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night.

``I was actually being a decoy dribbling the ball away and she was going to get a flare screen to take the shot,'' Delle Donne said. ``But we weren't able to get into the play. Five seconds isn't that much time so at that point I decided I had to get a shot off.''

Delle Donne's shot capped a Sky rally from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit for their second consecutive victory.

Prince tied the score at 66 with a driving layup with 2:11 left in regulation. Neither team scored again until Prince gave Chicago a one-point lead with a free throw with 33 seconds showing. Courtney Vandersloot hit another with 14 seconds remaining for a 68-66 advantage.

Jasmine James then ended the Mercury's stretch of nine straight misses with a jumper to force a 68-all deadlock with 5.8 seconds left in regulation.

``We got a little stagnant on offense,'' Dupree said. ``I wouldn't say it was their pressure, we just weren't able to knock down shots.''

The Mercury were missing star Diana Taurasi, who was suspended one game for an accumulation of technical fouls. She picked up her ninth technical of the season in the third quarter against New York on Tuesday night.

Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game after receiving seven technical fouls during the regular season. For every two additional technicals that regular season, they will be automatically suspended for another game.

Taurasi, who is averaging nearly 21 points and 6 assists, sat out a game against Minnesota in July after getting her seventh technical.

Alexis Hornbuckle had seven points off the bench as the Mercury opened a 21-18 lead to close the first quarter. Delle Donne and Prince each had eight for the Sky.

The Mercury led 38-30 with 2:05 left in the half on Brittney Griner's layup but the Sky trimmed the deficit over the next 1:20 as Prince made it 38-36 after two free throws.

Two free throws by Bonner restored Phoenix's four-point at 40-36 lead just before halftime.

The Mercury kept the Sky at arm's length until late in the third quarter when back-to-back baskets by Tamera Young trimmed the Phoenix lead to 58-55 with 47 seconds showing.

Lynetta Kizer's put back pushed the Mercury advantage back to five at 60-55 entering the final 10 minutes.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited